


It All Means Something

by imusuallyobsessed



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Airplane Crashes, F/M, Fevers, Jungle Man Oliver, Lian Yu, MOUNTAIN LIONS, Magical Island Herbs, Oliver never got off the island after S2, Tarzan References, Thunder and Lightning, waterfalls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 08:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imusuallyobsessed/pseuds/imusuallyobsessed
Summary: Felicity and Digg are sent on a job to investigate strange happenings in the North China Sea. Their plan goes sideways when their plane crashes on Lian Yu... and they're not the only ones there. OHFAT prompt: unexpected discovery.





	It All Means Something

**Author's Note:**

> I BARELY READ THROUGH THIS ONCE! I'm just so excited to share it with you guys! Please be kind when leaving comments.
> 
> This has been in my head for AGES but it just took a good old prompt to shake it all out. It's easily the longest oneshot thing I've ever written, so I hope it flows well and all that jazz.
> 
> Background: Digg owns a PI business thing with Lyla and they contract Felicity when they need extra tech help. Oliver never got off the island after the Amazo blew up, so flashbacks from S1 and S2 happened, but no flashbacks after. I'm ignoring the stupid Reiter growing drugs on the island thing.

“Felicity. Felicity! Come on girl, wake up!”

The girl in question groaned, suddenly aware of her aching body and head. She was laying on something cool and uneven, and strong hands gripped her arms.

She opened her eyes with a gasp. _The plane. Crashing. Blackout._

“Digg?” she breathed, her hand slowly going to her head. It felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Or fallen out of a plane.

Without thinking, she twisted around to see the smoldering remains of the small, three-passenger plane that was supposed to fly them across the North China Sea to Hong Kong. Thankfully she still had her glasses and ponytail. They were several yards away, and Felicity assumed Digg had moved her here from the plane. Or she’d been through. She didn’t remember much after the mayday signal and the pilot trying to regain control of the fritzing plane. Now, they were in the middle of a forest.

“Woah, slow down,” Digg said, pressing her back to the ground. It was good advice. Twisting had set her head pounding again, and she felt every throb along her body.

“Oh, frack. The pilot?” she asked, looking back at her friend.

Digg shook his head.

Felicity let out a shaky breath. “Where are we?” she asked, sitting up with the help of Digg’s arm behind her back. She looked around again, trying to see if she could glean any more information from their surroundings. The trees were tall and green and the air was surprisingly cold. She was thankful she’d worn pants and a light jacket for the flight, but was regretting her heeled boots. And even with her jacket, she was still cold.

“I’m not sure,” Digg said, following her gaze. “Before the… well, before, he kept shouting something about _Lian Yu_. And I saw an island on the navigation map before we lost power.”

Felicity wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but, “I don’t remember that.”

Digg shook his head. “You wouldn’t. When we started to fall, you hit your head against the side of the plane and it knocked you out. I dragged you out of the plane after we crashed.”

Wasn’t that just her luck? She had to be all in distress and passed out and Digg just emerged from the wreckage like the Hulk and carried her away.

“Okay, so we’re on an island. That’s… not good. Did any of my tech survive?”

Digg stood and helped Felicity to her feet, letting her lean most of her weight on him when they discovered her ankle was twisted.

“I can look if you want,” Digg offered, but he was grimacing along with her.

“We’re both hurt,” Felicity reasoned. “And besides, I know what’s worth saving and you won’t have to shout everything at me.”

They made it back to the plane and Felicity groaned. Her bags were torn open at the seams, her precious tech shattered in the dirt and grass.

“Grab our phones and my toolkit. I may be able to salvage some of this and send out a distress signal. Do you think Lyla knows what happened?”

Lyla and Digg – technically her bosses, and co-owners of Harbinger Investigators – had brought Felicity in on this project. They’d been contracted to investigate a series of strange events in the North China Sea, and were supposed to fly to Hong Kong and begin working from there.

“I don’t know. The plane was old. And you know we had to change out flight plans at the last minute. Felicity, I’m so sorry – ”

“You didn’t force me to come,” she said. “You asked for my help. It’s no one’s fault this happened.” She looked up into her friends face and tried to communicate her sincerity. “Now, let’s get this tech, get somewhere safe, and see if I can get us home to Starling.”

“Ow. Ow. Ow!”

“Felicity, saying ow isn’t going to make me move any faster.”

They’d found a shallow cave and Digg was setting her ankle with sticks and strips of fabric recovered from the plane. It was the only thing resembling shelter they’d been able to find. She’d limped along gamely for hours, but finally the pain was too much and the sun started to set. Once Digg set her down and took off her shoe as gently as possible, they both discovered a deep gash on her lower leg that wrapped around her foot. It didn’t look good, but Digg was doing all he could to clean it. He’d started a fire – something Felicity was incredibly impressed by – and the warm glow kept the darkness just at bay on the edge of their shelter.

“Sorry,” Felicity squeaked, squeezing her eyes shut and scrunching her face to try and repress the pain. Digg was only trying to help, and he was doing the best he could.

“No, I’m sorry. I still can’t believe I – ”

“Digg. Not helping.”

“I know, I know.”

Felicity opened one eye, concerned by Digg’s resigned tone, and saw the face of a purely guilty man. He was probably berating himself in his mind. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“I’m not mad at you. These things happen, sometimes. I guess. I mean, not _that_ often or no one would ever fly, but – ”

“Felicity.”

Felicity stopped and took a deep breath, finally smiling at Digg when she’d gotten her mouth under control. He was smiling a little, but ghosts lingered in his eyes.

“You know you’re like a sister to me, Felicity. And Lyla, too. It’s hard to see you in this situation and know you’re only here because I asked for your help.”

Felicity shrugged, ignoring the ache her entire body had become. The pain in her leg was starting to climb up from her ankle, but she hadn’t told Digg yet. It was probably nothing. She just wished she had some fracking Advil. There had been some in her purse, but it hadn’t survived the crash. Even if it had, over-the-counter meds probably wouldn’t be enough to cut through the pain of her body and ankle.

“This cut doesn’t look good,” Digg murmured, running his fingers gently over the wrapping to make sure it was lying flat before tying it off. Breath hissed through Felicity’s teeth at the tightness, but she knew it was necessary to compress the wound. It just hurt like a bitch.

“Well, there’s not much to do about it,” Felicity said glibly, trying to smile past the pain and her fear. The cut really _didn’t_ look good, and it was starting to hurt even worse.

Digg made a concerned noise and lowered Felicity on to the shallow cave floor. She was small enough to fit inside with her side exposed to the open air, and Digg put his jacket under her head and propped her ankle on a pile of sticks, rocks and leaves.

“What’re you gonna do?” Felicity asked, suddenly swamped by exhaustion. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

Digg propped himself against the mouth of the cave by her injured foot. “I’m staying right here. You should sleep, Felicity.”

“What about you?”

Digg shook his head. “Just go to sleep.”

She wanted to protest, but sleep overtook her in moments.

~~~

Was this what dying felt like? Felicity had never almost died before, but this had to be something close to it.

She was hot. _Burning_. Like the fire dancing at the edge of her hazy vision. Her leg felt consumed, oscillating between icy cold, pins and needles, and scorching heat.

Breathing was a struggle. Her lungs were laboring, struggling to pull in enough air, and her head felt like it was being cooked in a microwave.

“Felicity! Felicity, I’m going to get something to help you.”

Digg’s voice was distant, distorted. His big hand touched her forehead, her cheek. He kissed the crown of her head then left, his footsteps fast, slow, fast again, fading.

Felicity moaned in the sudden quiet, writhing and groaning to the cracking of firewood. It was hot, it was cold, and she wished she could claw her leg off.

Out of the sparking darkness, a figure appeared. Large, looming. Broad shoulders. Too pale to be Digg. Thick, uneven beard.

Eyes. Blue, piercing, _intent_.

Beautiful.

He came closer, silent as the forest itself. Indecipherable under the cracking fire.

Closer. He crouched by her head, a ragged canvas bag in his hands. Felicity tried to focus, but the only detail she could focus on in that moment was how _handsome_ he was. This weird, probably-a-fever-dream, probably-a-dying-hallucination, jungle-Tarzan-man was gorgeous and it was all she could see.

Until he took things out of his bag.

“What is that?” she breathed.

“Shh,” he murmured, his voice rusty and low, grumbling through the dark. He had two worn-down rocks, a clump of herbs, and an old… plastic water bottle?

“Don’t… don’ shush me.”

A shaky, almost rusty sounding noise filled the air, and Felicity realized it was a _laugh_.

“I’m dy… _dying_ and y-you’re _laughing_?”

Jungle Man’s face lost all mirth, serious again in an instant. He shook his head and went to work, grinding the herbs against the stones and pouring them in the water bottle. It hadn’t occurred to Felicity to be afraid until he propped her head up with his hand and motioned for her to drink.

“Woah, wha’ th’ frack is this? Could be… poison or somethin’.”

He shook his head again, then took a swig before putting the lip back to her mouth.

Well, there wasn’t much more to lose, was there?

She took one gulp and gagged, the nasty green definitely-poison water soaking her neck and chest.

“It _is_ poison. Frack, I’m really dying now,” she moaned, scrunching her eyes together and trying to roll away from the attractive, but regrettably murderous Jungle Man.

He held her tight, refusing to let her turn, and put the drink back to her lips. But he was smiling. Felicity got the feeling he didn’t do that very often. Then again, if he was apparently on this island all alone, he probably didn’t have many reasons to smile.

“All of it,” he said. “It’ll help.”

Felicity groaned and forced herself to hold her breath and drink the rest. Once Oliver was sure she could manage, he moved down to her ankle and started to unwrap her dressing.

“What’re y’ doing?” Felicity tried to squirm away, but Jungle Man gripped her shin.

“Stop. I can help. Your wound is infected.”

Well, once he started using his voice again it seemed to smooth out perfectly. In fact, he sounded like a normal, American guy with uneven hair and dirty, torn clothes.

Felicity settled, her breathing evening out just a bit, and tried to focus through her fever. Even after just a few minutes with the magic island herbs in her system, she was starting to feel a bit steadier.

Jungle Man rewrapped her ankle with some crushed herbs pressed against the wound. They stung like a hive of bees and Felicity tried to keep her gasping, pained noises to a minimum.

When he was near done – at least, Felicity assumed he was with her minimal medical knowledge – they heard a sharp branch crack beyond the fire.

“Get _away_ from her!”

Felicity and Jungle Man jumped, and before she could blink he was standing in front of her with a notched bow that’d come out of nowhere.

“Don’t come any closer!”

“I’m the one with the gun!”

A high-pitched _zing_ echoed around the little campsite and Felicity gasped as an arrow sank into the tree Digg was hiding behind, right next to his eye.

Felicity heard a threatening click and finally snapped out of her pained, feverish, confused haze.

“Holy shit, everyone calm the fuck down!”

Felicity didn’t swear often, but this was the type of situation that deserved a few expletives. She stumbled to her feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in her leg.

Jungle Man moved closer, blocking her from Digg’s view. Her friend tensed and took a threatening step forward, and Felicity was scrambling from behind her rescuer before they could kill each other.

Jungle Man tried to get between her and Digg, but Felicity hobbled between the men and held her hands up to each of them.

“Everyone take a deep breath! Lower your weapons!”

As soon as Felicity stood in their lines of fire, both men tensed and turned their arm off her. But only when she used her Loud Voice did they actually point their weapons toward the ground.

“Alright, Jungle Man, this is Digg. Digg, this is Jungle Man. He came out of the gloom and probably saved my life with some weird magical herbs. Jungle Man, Digg is one of my best friends. We crashed on to this island together.”

“I saw,” Jungle Man said. “I’m sorry, I… I just… reacted. And my name is Oliver, not Jungle Man.”

“Felicity, you ate something this hack job gave you?”

“Woah, woah!” Felicity said when both men tensed again.

“Digg, Jungle… Oliver ate the herbs first. And I already feel better, so he’s probably not trying to kill me. He saved my life, so let’s give him a little trust.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Oliver said, his voice a rough burr. “I just… knew I could help.”

Out of nowhere, thunder cracked across the sky and Felicity jumped. Without thinking, she put her hurt ankle on the ground and gasped. Pain like lightning lanced up her leg and she felt herself tilt.

Before she could blink, Jungle-Man-Oliver was at her side to hold her up. Digg was only a few paces behind, supporting her other side.

“I know a place. It’s out of the elements,” Oliver said, glancing from Felicity to Digg. She was clenching her jaw to keep from crying out. Lightning arced across the sky and another crack of thunder shook the ground, and she felt Digg take a deep breath and nod.

“Alright, then. I guess we can trust you. But how can you trust us?” Digg asked, ever the more suspicious one.

Oliver shrugged and began to help Felicity through the forest. Digg grabbed her bag of broken tech and his jacket and rejoined her on the other side. Together, they limped through the forest.

It was quiet aside from the approaching storm, until the bottom dropped out of the sky and rain soaked the three of them in seconds.

“I want to say something about this getting worse, but I don’t want to jinx us. We’d get attacked by wolves or mountain lions or… mutant bugs or something.” Felicity turned to Oliver, eyes wide behind her rain-specked glasses. “Oh my gosh, there’s no killer animals here, right? I survived a plane crash. I can’t go out like that.”

Oliver chuckled again, a surprised look on his face like he hadn’t suspected to do it. “No,” he finally said. “There’s wolves, but they keep to themselves.”

“That’s better than mutant bugs,” Felicity breathed. “To be fair to wolves, I read this new study about them that’s come out recently discussing the factual inconsistencies with our knowledge of pack behavior, since the study that was the gold standard for a while was conducted on captive wolves…”

Felicity talked when she was nervous. Digg and Lyla would let her go if they had time, but also knew ways to get her back under control. Oliver was different. He wasn’t looking at her – he was keeping his eyes on the forest, constantly scanning – but she could tell he was listening.

“So anyway, this scientist – _ahh_! Frack frack, a fracking hole!”

Oliver was immediately crouching beside her. Digg took her weight, asking her what was wrong.

“Animal den,” Oliver said, looking up at Felicity. She was struck. His face, easier to see even in the storm, was even more handsome than he’d looked in her fever haze. How was that possible?

His hands wrapped around her shin and gently pried it out of the hole.

“ _Ahh_!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Oliver murmured as he stood back up. Felicity’s hand was holding his shirt in a death grip and Oliver gripped her arm, steadying her.

“Does it hurt worse, Felicity?” Digg asked, taking charge. Felicity clenched her teeth and nodded, leaning heavy against Oliver when Digg transferred her weight. “Let me look.”

“Should we keep moving?” Oliver asked, glancing from the forest to the sky as he held Felicity. His arms were so _warm_. She didn’t realize how cold she was.

“I don’t want to hurt her worse,” Digg said, his hands gentle on her injured ankle. Even then, Felicity bit her lip viciously to hold back any noises. “You’ve definitely agitated the cut, and your ankle is probably officially sprained now, not just twisted. I can’t tell without more light and getting closer, and that will hurt.”

“Shelter,” Oliver said, then shifted his hold on Felicity.

“What’re you doing?” she bit out from between her teeth, resisting the pull of Oliver’s arms. Nice as they were.

“You can’t walk,” he said, blue eyes gazing into hers through the rain. “Your friend was hurt in the crash, too. I’ll carry you.”

“I don’t know – ”

“Felicity, it’s probably a good idea.”

Felicity twisted around in Oliver’s arms to look at Digg. Her friend shrugged. “Jungle Man’s right. We can’t risk you getting hurt any worse before we find shelter and I can’t carry you.”

“Well, alright,” Felicity said as she turned back to her own personal Tarzan. “I guess – woah!”

Before she could finish, Oliver swept her off her feet. Literally. He’d slung his bow and quiver across his chest before laying an arm behind her back, another behind her knees, then lifted her against him.

“Care, careful, careful,” Felicity murmured.

Oliver turned to her, an unexpected sparkle in his eyes. “Do you want me to be careful?”

Felicity blinked a few times. “Is this you trying to be funny?”

Digg broke up their moment. “Alright, guys. Break it up. Oliver, shelter?”

Without any more words, Oliver set off into the forest. He moved just as quickly with Felicity in his arms as he had before, and she was glad it was night, cold, and he wouldn’t see the heat on her cheeks. He was strong as well as handsome.

They kept walking through the storm. Since she wasn’t moving, Felicity felt like the rain was soaking her to the bone.

“We’re almost there,” Oliver said, his chest rumbling under Felicity’s head. When had she laid down on him? She met his eyes, surprised by the gentleness in them. “I have a few blankets.”

“Well, I really should get started on our tech to see if I can – ”

“Felicity,” Digg interrupted. “We need to rest tonight.”

Oliver hummed in agreement.

On another day she would’ve argued, but Felicity had been in a plane crash, met a stranger in the jungle, almost died of blood poisoning, and hurt her ankle even worse. Now, she was being carried by said stranger – who she had no business thinking was as handsome as he was – to his mysterious shelter.

How had he even gotten on this island? How long had he been here? Something about this was pulling at the back of her mind…

“Here we are,” Oliver said quietly.

Felicity squinted through the wet gloom and gasped when she saw… “A plane.”

“Might not be the kind of place you want to be right now, but…”

“It’s better than anything else we found. Thank you,” Digg interjected. He followed behind Oliver and Felicity, setting the precious bag of tech in a dry place before moving to Felicity’s side.

Oliver laid her down on the only raised cot, immediately beginning to take off her wet clothes.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t take any more surprises!” Felicity exclaimed, her hands fluttering around Oliver’s.

Digg shook his head. Since when were he and Jungle Oliver on the same wavelength? “You’ve got to get out of these wet clothes. You’re already injured and the wound is infected. We need to get you warm and then you need to rest.”

Felicity chose this moment to metaphorically put her foot down. “Alright then, give me some blankets and spare clothes and I’ll change under them. I can do it myself.” Yes, she was more exhausted than she’d ever been in her life. But she wasn’t about to let the closest person she had to a brother or some random, attractive jungle stranger see her naked. There were lines.

The men followed her commands and she was out of her clothes – even her underwear – and in a threadbare shirt and pair of sweats in no time. Felicity didn’t know whose clothes they were and she was losing the energy to ask.

Digg did something with her clothes – again, too tired to ask – and she sighed into the warmth of the blankets.

~~~

It took Felicity way too many days to figure it out.

Three days into their time with Oliver, Felicity announced, “Oh my gosh! You’re Oliver Queen!”

Digg was gone. He’d taken to Oliver’s survival schedule like a fish to water and was currently out foraging and hunting. Felicity’s foot was still very much out of commission – it had been sprained, a very painful examination revealed – and she was tasked to tinker with the broken tech and sort their supplies.

Oliver stayed back with her. Since they’d come to the abandoned plane, she’d never been left alone. Normally, she would bristle under the overprotectiveness of the men, but she really was out of commission with her ankle. If anything happened and she was here alone, there wasn’t much she’d be able to do about it.

Oliver stiffened at her words. He was sitting across the fire from her, methodically making arrows. It was important never to let the fire go out, and Felicity had been shocked how cold it was on this island. She kept on the clothes from her first night and added her own from before over it. Even with all that and in front of a fire, Felicity was still cold.

Maybe it was because she couldn’t wear shoes due to her swollen, injured ankle and was hobbling around in three pairs of socks that were still damp at the end of every day.

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you sooner. Digg and I are from Starling City. Holy frack, you’ve been here for… five years?”

He nodded jerkily, still staring at the arrows in his hands.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. You’ve been here for ages and… Your dad! Oh my gosh, he died. Or drowned. But you don’t need me to tell you that, so I’ll just – ”

“I like listening to you.”

Felicity froze, her mouth open. She’d just been babbling about probably the most painful experiences of his life, and he’d said…

“It reminds me I’m not alone anymore. And I like the sound of your voice.”

Blushing. Ferociously. She could feel the pink staining her cheeks and down her neck. Perks: she felt warm for the first time since arriving.

“Well… That’s – I’ll just – ”

“Don’t feel… awkward. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“No, no!” Felicity was overjoyed Oliver was finally opening up. She could tell he still wasn’t used to others being around. Loud noises startled him, and sometimes he looked at Felicity and Digg like they were apparitions. “It’s fine. I’ll just… keep talking.”

Oliver stared at her and the silence stretched. Finally, he nodded with the smallest, sweetest smile she’d ever seen. They went back to their respective tasks, but this time Felicity jabbered away about what she was doing, explaining as best she could about her tech.

Oliver focused on his arrows, but when she glanced up at him she’d catch him smiling.

Digg was never going to let her live this down. Oliver, either.

She’d finally, _finally_ managed to convince them to leave her alone at camp. They were going to hunt for the whole day, trying to take down some bigger game. Felicity still doesn’t think they would’ve left her if their food situation hadn’t been getting dire. Oliver had some food reserves, but adding two more mouths to feed – one injured and the other a massive ex-solider – had depleted them quickly.

Oliver had a whole system. Felicity knew that meant he probably had people with him on the island before, but it didn’t feel right to ask. She’d managed to control her brain-to-mouth filter that far.

But the system was failing her now, and it was all her fault.

 _Keep the flare with you at all times,_ he’d said, his tone and eyes deep and serious. Like the thought of anything happening to her was too much to bear.

But, of course, she’d gotten distracted. They’d been here for a week and Felicity was able to hop around without deep pain in her ankle. So, she was hopping around camp to get a little exercise and find the best view for working on her broken tech. She’d managed to get her cellphone back to normal, but now she was working on the sat phone. It was government-issue, and much harder to fix.

That meant the flare was on the other side of camp.

By the _mountain lion_.

It stood on the edge of the clearing around the plane. Big, imposing. It wasn’t growling, but its head was lowered and tail out straight, wary and assessing.

Felicity slowly lurched to her feet, freezing in an awkward position when the cougar let out a low, sharp growl.

“Frack,” she murmured, glancing around to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon.

Nothing.

Of course not.

“Good kitty,” Felicity murmured quietly, trying to remember that study about wolves she’d told Oliver and Digg about their first night together. Unfortunately, her 170 IQ was failing her in the face of potential death.

“I’m gonna need my IQ to catch up if this is what my future is going to be like,” she grumbled, trying to hobble slowly toward the flare gun. The mountain lion was circling with her, maintaining a parallel circle. Its ears were flicking from her to the forest, head and tail level and low.

“Easy, kitty. Don’t kill me. You don’t want to kill me. I’m all injured and covered in disgusting herbs. You’d hate the taste of me.”

The big cat grumbled – not quite a growl or snarl. But its yellow eyes were suspicious and frantic.

Felicity wasn’t a big nature girl, but a frantic wild animal couldn’t be good.

As soon as she was within reach, she lunged for the flare gun and shot it into the sky. Lunging hadn’t been a good idea, because she reacted on instinct and landed on her injured ankle. “Not _again_!”

The mountain lion didn’t like that. It raised its hackles and began yowling, the fur on the back of its neck bristling. Felicity might’ve managed to scare it off if she weren’t prone on the ground, clutching her shin and trying not to write in pain. Her ankle had _just_ started healing!

“Frack. _Oliver_! _Digg_!”

Within seconds, Felicity saw a green-and-brown streak wielding a bow and arrow. Felicity wasn’t sure how close they were or how much time had passed, but he appeared and shot warning arrows at the cougar. The big cat yowled again and darted into the woods.

“Felicity!”

Oliver was at her side in an instant, scooping her into his arms and setting her on a log to examine her ankle.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Oliver murmured, examining Felicity’s re-swollen ankle. “We shouldn’t have left you alone here.”

Felicity opened her mouth, but Digg bolted back into camp before she could speak.

“Felicity, what happened?!”

“It was just a mountain lion! I know, it was dangerous ad stuff. I’m getting really sick of bad things only happening to me, you know. Why do I have to be the injured one?”

“Out of all of us, it’s probably best it was you,” Digg said. Before Felicity could yell at him, he continued. “If one of us was hurt, we’d be useless. All our strength is here.” He put a hand on his arm. “But you? Your strength is right here.” His hand moved to tap her temple, and Felicity was still sullen but couldn’t fight back a blush. “Even with a bum ankle, you’re saving us. Without the tech, who knows how long we’ll be stranded here? So, worry about that. Jungle Man and I will worry about the rest.”

Felicity sighed and finally nodded. Digg always knew just what to say. But she had a bone to pick with their host.

“So, when I asked about wild animals, you definitely _didn’t_ mention mountain lions.”

~~~

“Seriously, thank you so much for this. I know you both said I didn’t smell, but I find that kind of hard to believe after so much days in the… oh, wow.”

A huge, clear pool, fed by a waterfall, emerged from the jungle. It wasn’t the tropical paradise cove Felicity dreamed of after she saw _Blue Lagoon_ , but it looked clean and fresh and Felicity couldn’t wait to have something resembling a shower after three weeks in the wilderness.

Fixing all the broken tech with her limited supplies was hard. Not to mention, she and Digg had accidentally eaten poisoned berries one day when Oliver was out and they’d both been sick as dogs for four days, then had to recover. Felicity hadn’t been sure they’d survive that one, but Oliver’s attentive, intensive care had brought them back around. Felicity refused to think about the night in a fevered haze where she heard Oliver muttering to himself about how he’d save them, he wouldn’t fail them, he couldn’t be alone again.

Those words hadn’t been for her ears. Felicity could feel the ghosts that lingered around the island, though she suspected Oliver was the only one who could see them.

Felicity tried not to complain often, but today she hadn’t been able to stop herself from bemoaning her lack of cleanliness. Oliver immediately mentioned this waterfall and offered to take her there. Since he knew the way, Digg stayed behind to man the camp. They shared a weird man-look before Oliver and Felicity set off into the woods.

Her ankle was recovering well. She still needed Oliver’s help, but she was limping along at almost her previous speed and the deep cut was beginning to fully close.

_“It’ll scar,” Oliver said, gazing up at her after redressing the wound one night. He kneeled before her, holding her leg with more gentleness than Felicity ever expected._

_She shrugged. She’d seen Oliver’s scars through the tatters in his close, but tried never to look too long._

_“You survived,” he said. “The scar is just proof. Remember that.”_

“It’ll be cold,” Oliver said, almost bashful, jarring her out of the memory. “But I brought extra clothes and – ”

“It’s perfect,” Felicity interrupted, smiling up at him. They reached the edge of the water and Felicity slowly started taking off her borrowed clothes.

Oliver made a choked noise behind her, and she called, “I don’t know about you, but these clothes are getting washed, too! I’ve been sitting in my own stink for three weeks too long to care about nudity.”

When she was down to her bra and underwear – she didn’t mean like _nude_ nude – she turned back to Oliver. Her stomach dropped at his expression. He was standing in a way that made him look smaller, face downcast. His arms were crossed, covering as much of himself as he could.

Felicity immediately shook her head. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable? I didn’t even think of that. Should I – ”

Oliver met her eyes and shook his head quickly. “No, no, it’s not that. It’s just I… There’s a lot of scars and…”

Felicity bit her lip. “You don’t have to do this just because I am. I just really want to be clean. You can wait up here if you want and just… watch out for mountain lions. But if you do, I won’t… I mean, they’re just another part of you, Oliver. You survived, right? They’re just proof.”

Oliver stared at her for several seconds, his blue eyes wide, before he shrugged and started to take off his tattered clothes. Felicity pointedly gave him her back, set her clothes on a rock, and let her hair down from its ponytail before stepping into the water.

“Ooo, you weren’t lying!”

Lian Yu was cold and so was the water, but it was that kind of pleasantly cold that Felicity knew she’d get used to in a few minutes. And anything at this point would feel amazing.

To get it over with, she took a few big steps and dunked herself fully under the water.

Cold. Bracing. It was basically the best she’d felt since crashing on to this island.

She breached the surface and took a deep breath, running her hands through her now-straight, wet hair. “Frack, this is the best thing since wi-fi.”

Felicity turned to Oliver with a smile, not letting her eyes settle on his scarred body. Except… _woah_ , he was ripped.

_Stop looking! Not the time._

Felicity quickly turned and moved deeper into the water, letting herself swim. She drifted through the water, letting herself relax. She knew Oliver would be keeping an eye on their surroundings, always watching to make sure they were safe. She’d gotten used to his constant watchfulness since they’d teamed up.

She’d gotten used to a lot of things.

“So, you never really talk about going back to Starling,” Felicity mused, keeping her back to Oliver. Frack, she wanted to turn around with every fiber of her being, but she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

But it was true. She and Digg talked about it all the time: seeing Lyla again, eating at Big Belly Burger, _indoor plumbing_. But Oliver never did. He stayed silent when they reminisced, only smiling a small bit at the funniest of their stories.

Oliver was silent, and she could see him shrugging in her mind’s eye. Felicity was patient, running water over herself until he took a deep breath.

“It’s just… hard to believe. This isn’t all a dream. Or we’ll actually get off this island. I don’t want to… believe. Just in case.”

Felicity’s heart broke. Without thinking, she moved through the water and took his hands, gazing into his large, startled blue eyes.

“We’ll make it off this island. I swear to you. I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”

They stood there, hand-in-hand, in the middle of a lagoon on an island called purgatory, and she could tell from the look in his eyes that he believed every word she said. That faith decided for her: she would keep her promise. Oliver Queen would make it home.

“There’s a… umm…” Oliver stammered. Felicity distantly remembered reading about him before the island and thought his newfound tentativeness was both adorable and shattering. “Waterfall. If you want to wash your hair. That’s what I do, at least. But it’s slippery, so…”

Felicity beamed and squeezed his hands. “I guess you’ll have to come with me.”

That obviously wasn’t what he had in mind, but he came with her willingly. They waded around the edge of the water to the waterfall. Oliver’s strong hands guided her up the slick rocks, and before long they were both standing under the heavy fall of water.

Felicity couldn’t help it: she laughed. A lost billionaire playboy and an IT girl standing mostly-naked under a waterfall on a deserted island.

And Oliver… he laughed too. A true, deep laugh, for the first time since Felicity had met him.

Felicity joined him. It was an unintentional discovery, an unexpected joy, and all that feeling bubbled inside her like champagne until she could do nothing but laugh it out.

The sound fizzled, but Felicity was still staring into Oliver’s eyes. And he was staring into hers. They’d moved closer under the waterfall, sheltered by the pounding water insulating their rushing hearts. Heat sizzled between them, making goosebumps dance up Felicity’s arms. Around the water, all she could see was Oliver. His jaw. The slope of his cheeks. His eyes. Eyes that glowed, that pulled her in.

They crashed together like storm clouds. His lips were soft and rough, chapped from years in the elements. Water slid between them, making their skin slide together like silk and steel. Heat boiled and bloomed inside her, sliding from her stomach up her spine and burning where their hands, lips, and bodies fused.

His hand cupped the back of her head, angling it so their mouths could dive deeper, and her arms wrapped around him. Fingers skimmed over flesh scarred and smooth, marveling at the muscle rippling underneath.

Long, languid minutes passed while they kissed, and Oliver finally separated their mouths – no other parts of them – and rested his forehead against hers.

“We should get back. We promised Digg we wouldn’t be gone long.”

Felicity nodded, not moving away. She went on her toes and kissed him again – short and sweet.

They left the waterfall and redressed in the dry clothes, gently helping each other until they were presentable again.

Hand in hand, they walked back to camp.

~~~

“I have a signal!”

Shouting wasn’t a good idea at camp – it made Digg and Oliver panic – but Felicity couldn’t help it. She’d finally gotten a working signal on the sat phone. That meant their GPS was working and she could call Lyla!

Her eyes immediately found Oliver. His eyes were wide and his face pale, but there was a ghost of a smile lingering on his face. She’d been able to fulfill her promise.

Digg was ecstatic. Felicity’s heart was beating so fast it didn’t feel possible.

Without further delay, she dialed Lyla’s number and held up the phone.

“Lyla? It’s Felicity! We’re on an island called Lian Yu. Can you come get us?”

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? I hope you liked it! There's a very high probability I may go back and expand in this universe a little... There's so much about their time on Lian Yu I didn't have the patience to write out!
> 
> Drop me a comment and kudo if you're so inclined (I'd love you forever) and then check me out elsewhere on the internet!
> 
> Tumblr: @imusuallyobsessed  
> Twitter: @usuallyobsessed


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